


Brownies and Milk

by maryling



Category: Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis
Genre: Action/Adventure, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-21
Updated: 2009-12-21
Packaged: 2017-10-04 21:04:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maryling/pseuds/maryling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keep an eye on your surroundings, fellas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brownies and Milk

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Miko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miko/gifts).



> Rating is for language. Set in early senior year. Thanks to my lovely beta, D-chan!

Attention students: Due to an increase in the number and strength of monsters outside of school grounds, no students are to go gathering or exploring alone until further notice.  
\--Staff

  
"Komet ore, komet ore, where'd I leave my komet ore..." Vayne rummaged through his materials bag. "Lead, copper, steel. I thought I had an ore in here."

"You used it when you made those globes," Sulpher informed him, looking up from his bath to glare at Vayne. "Because you decided you absolutely needed to have ten globes with you at all times."

Vayne hmphed defensively at his Mana. "I like globes. They're useful. And I didn't keep all of them. That guy from my class wanted some."

"He bought two. That still leaves you with far more than you need. And not enough komet ore." Sulpher resumed licking his back leg, clearly finished with the conversation, having proven Vayne to be an idiot.

Vayne glanced around the workshop. He'd seen the girls - Pamela included - run off together, giggling about something. Flay was nowhere to be seen, undoubtedly off defending justice elsewhere on campus. And Muppy...well, best not to ask Muppy for anything, he'd realized. That left...

"Roxis? Hey, Roxis. ROXIS!"

Roxis' head snapped up. "What do you want? I'm reading, in case you hadn't noticed," he snapped, eyes flashing behind his glasses.

Vayne hunched his shoulders. He didn't understand why Roxis hated him, but he knew the other boy's feelings hadn't changed at all. "I was wondering if you had any raw komet ore sitting around. I need it to make a new hammer for Nikki."

"Hmm." Roxis tilted his head, mentally going through his list of supplies. "No, Flay borrowed the last of mine to make a new sword. Sorry." He opened his book back up, trying to regain his place.

"Oh. Well, I guess I'll just have to go out and get some more," Vayne mumbled. He started to gather his pack, scooping up heal jars and amber soups along with his pick.

"Hey! Didn't you see the signs?" Sulpher yelped at him. "No going out by yourself. You need to find another student to go with you."

Vayne groaned. "But there's no one around except Roxis, and he's not going to want to go with me." He hadn't quite finished the sentence when he heard the faint buzz that indicated the appearance of a Mana.

"Oho. So you need someone to go out gathering with you, eh Vayne? I'm sure one of your _friends_ would be happy to help you out." Vayne turned around to be sure, but that voice could only belong to the Mana of Light, who was presently crouched next to the sofa where Roxis was clearly no longer reading.

In fact, the other boy had gone quite pale. "I...could do with a bit of a walk, now that you mention it. Where would you like to go?"

"Um...I guess the Wind's Corridor. The Abyss, anyway." Although he was familiar with Roxis' abrupt mood swings when his Mana was involved, Vayne could never quite convince himself that Roxis would actually go through with what he promised. Especially since he'd been so reluctant in the first place.

"That will be fine. Just let me gather my things - I was not expecting to go out today." Roxis stomped out, his ponytail swinging behind him and slamming the workshop door for good measure.

Vayne glanced at Sulpher. "Didn't sound too fine to me," he muttered as he resumed his packing. "Pick, bombs, potions, ring and boots. Did I forget anything?"

"Yes, your precious globes," the cat yowled.

~~~~~

"I can't believe you left your map at the workshop," Roxis said, clearly exasperated. "Just how were you planning on finding the mining areas?"

Vayne ducked his head to hide a blush. "I know where I'm going. We have to go this way for half an hour, then turn west and follow the path."

Roxis rolled his eyes. "Actually, that will take you to the Yubana grove. Unless you've run out of that too?" he asked, his tone indicating that this additional lack of foresight wouldn't surprise him.

"No, just the ore," Vayne replied, conceding defeat. "Lead the way."

They walked in silence for some time, stopping only to chase off some punis and pocket the materials they left behind. After twenty minutes and a turn eastward, Vayne spoke up.

"So, how are things with you and your Mana?"

Roxis glanced back over his shoulder but kept walking. "I don't see how that's any of your business," he snapped, then appeared to reconsider. "It's going well. He's the most annoying person I've ever met - including you, incidentally - but he's made an incredible difference in my alchemy skills, not to mention in combat."

"Wow," Vayne said, impressed.

"Yes, well, I suppose you wouldn't realize just how much a Mana can affect your power, having had one before you came to the Academy," Roxis continued haughtily.

Vayne shook his head before realizing that Roxis, being in front of him, couldn't see it. "No, I meant 'wow' as in, I think that's the most you've ever said to me without your Mana forcing you. Or did he?"

Roxis hesitated before answering. "No, he's not paying attention to me right now. I think I satisfied him by agreeing to come with you. I suppose he's learned to trust me somewhat."

Vayne rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I guess that's good, then."

The conversation was interrupted by the appearance of a pair of tigers being herded along by a Cyclone Mana. Roxis fumbled for his cards - in the bottom of the pack, he realized, cursing himself for an idiot - but Vayne and Sulpher were faster. He flung a fireball at the Mana, consuming it, then leapt at the tigers, finishing them off in two quick strokes.

"Show-off," Roxis grumbled, having finally liberated his weapon. He shoved the deck into his breast pocket as he watched Vayne examine the corpses for materials.

"We've been killing things like that since freshman year," Vayne said evenly. Roxis could snap at him all he liked, Vayne wasn't going to antagonize him. "Not exactly a challenge now that we're seniors. I got a thunder stone and some fangs. Need anything?"

Roxis harrumphed. "No thanks. I'm fairly well-stocked at the moment." He even managed to leave the snide "unlike _you_" unsaid, which he thought would please his Mana. "May we continue?"

Sulpher, back to his feline form, was stretching on the grass next to Vayne. "How are you feeling?" the boy asked him.

"I told you, I'm fine," the cat meowed back. "Let's get moving."

"Sulpher says he's ready to go, so I guess so," Vayne said, standing and shouldering his pack. "Lead the way."

~~~~~

"The monsters are getting a lot stronger," Vayne commented as he wiped gore from his gloves. "I can see why the teachers put up the warning."

"It's nothing we can't handle," Roxis sniffed. "We haven't had to use a single bomb or potion yet."

Vayne smiled. "If I'd been by myself, I'd have been running back to campus as soon as I saw that group of owlbears. We make a good pair." Roxis' only response was to stare at Vayne, brown eyes unreadable.

Disconcerted, Vayne looked back at the other boy as if frozen in place. They might have stayed like that until nightfall if not for Sulpher's hiss of "Enemies!" He jumped into Vayne's arms, as much to jump start his transformation as to get his partner moving.

Roxis turned abruptly, scanning the area. "What, those little things?" he asked incredulously. "I can step on them and never even notice."

Several things happened at once as Roxis lifted his foot to crush the creatures. Sulpher vanished in a flash of light, reappearing as a blade in Vayne's hand. The Mana of Light appeared, roaring, "Foolish boy!" Three large hammers materialized, centered around Roxis. And over it all, Vayne screamed "Roxis, no!" fear pushing his voice up an octave.

Pure reflexes saved Roxis, who was able to throw up enough of a shield to keep from being completely pulverized by the weapons. The force of the blow was still enough to knock him several feet away, which turned out to be fortunate as it gave Vayne enough room to start casting spells.

A circle of blades thrust up from the ground around the monsters - miniature brownies, Vayne had realized - dazing them all. He took the opportunity to yank a potion from his pack and toss it at Roxis, trusting that the other boy's Mana would help administer it.

Outnumbered, Vayne decided his best option would be to focus on eliminating one enemy quickly and hope he could handle fighting the others two-on-one. He dredged up the last reserves of his magical energy to hurl lightning at the first brownie, knocking it off its feet but coming short of killing it. Grimly, he swung Sulpher, carefully decapitating the tiny foe.

Vayne whipped around to locate the other two brownies, but the movement put him directly in the path of the nearest monster's hammer. He didn't even have time to curse before crumpling to the ground, unconscious.

The Mana of Light tugged at Roxis' coat. "Come on, boy, wake up, it's up to us to finish this." Roxis blinked groggily, pushing himself up to survey the situation. "Just give me an order and I'll take care of them."

"Wha? Uh, Chro-Chrona Drive," Roxis croaked, then let his head fall back to the ground. He'd barely finished saying the command before the Mana bounded off towards the brownies, gathering light to himself until he became painful to look at. Skidding to a halt above the monsters, he focused a beam of light onto each of them, frying them both to a crisp.

"One crisis dealt with. Up you get, boyo." The Mana walked back to Roxis, nudging him into a sitting position. "Those were one-inch brownies. A concentrated version, if you will, ten times the power of their full-sized cousins packed into a being a fraction of their size. I would have thought you'd recognize them," he finished reproachfully.

Roxis took off his glasses to wipe them on his shirt. "I was distracted," he replied stiffly. "Vayne had - dragon shit, where's Vayne?"

Sulpher meowed nearby and Roxis followed the sound to see the cat licking his partner's face in an attempt to wake the boy. "Why didn't you tell me he was injured?" Roxis yelled at his Mana, flailing around for his pack.

The Mana's eyes flashed in amusement, not that Roxis noticed. "Oho, don't you sound concerned?"

"Of course I'm concerned, damn it. He's seriously injured and Jess isn't here to heal him!" Roxis pulled two vials from his bag, holding one in each hand and, calling Sulpher over, showed them to the cat. "Which does he need, the cure jar or the nectar?" Sulpher rubbed his cheek against the hand with the nectar. "That bad? Demon shit! I hope this stuff hasn't lost its potency..."

Roxis slowly crawled over to Vayne, his head still throbbing from the beating he'd taken. He knelt next to the younger boy, carefully brushing the silver hair off of his face. Popping open the vial with one hand, he gently opened Vayne's lips and emptied the potion into his mouth.

"You're starting to actually like him," the Mana of Light said, disbelief plain in his voice. "Or is it...you want-"

"Might we discuss this some other time?" Roxis said through gritted teeth. "What I want is a moot point if he dies out here."

The Mana threw back his head and laughed, oblivious to Roxis' protests. "You want him! Oh hoh hoh, this is rich. From hatred and rivalry to attraction. This is more fun than I ever hoped for. Ah, young love!"

Any reply Roxis might have made was forgotten as he felt Vayne's chest move under his hand, heart and lungs remembering how to work together to keep the body going. "Vayne? Are you..."

"Ungh. I feel like Nikki just whacked me with her hammer," Vayne groaned. "What happened?" He tried to push himself up onto his elbows but could barely get his head off the ground.

Roxis put his hand on Vayne's shoulder, holding him down. "Don't get up yet. You got knocked out by a tiny brownie. It was my fault, I didn't recognize the strength of enemy and the gravity of the situation. I'm very sorry."

"Is Sulpher all right?" He turned his head in search of the cat but regretted it immediately as his skull started pounding.

"Of course I'm fine," the cat replied. "I wasn't the one caught by surprise in the field." Despite his tone, he head-butted Vayne's shoulder affectionately.

Vayne patted the ground next to him in search of his pack. "I've got two extreme heal jars in my bag. Where is it?"

Two vials fell into his hand. "I believe you were looking for these," the Mana of Light said. "Can't have you dying just as things get interesting," he added cheerfully. "Drink up!"

"...why do I feel like I've missed something?" Vayne asked as he handed one of the jars to Roxis. He winced at the taste of the potion - a muddy mixture was handy in synthesis but not exactly appealing when he had to drink the stuff.

"Roxis has a crush on you and his Mana just realized it," Sulpher informed him with a yawn. "Human mating rituals. Pah." The cat stretched and stalked away to groom his battle-mussed fur.

Vayne sat up, feeling better with each passing moment. "What do you mean, he has a crush on me?" Sulpher only flicked his tail at Vayne but the Mana of Light laughed.

"Oho, I do like that cat! Yes Vayne, my boy here has found that hatred and desire are but two sides of the same coin, and that coin has flipped. Now the only thing that's left is to see if you're interested as well." His jaw gaped in what could only be called a grin.

Roxis was turning quite an interesting shade of purple, Vayne noticed. The empty vial in his hand shattered, crushed in his fist. "Meddlesome creatures!" he shouted, standing abruptly and stomping off a few feet away, back stiff and hands clenched.

Vayne got to his feet slowly. "Roxis?" He walked over to the other boy and cautiously touched his shoulder.

He whirled around. "Don't you get it? I hate you. I should hate you - you have everything I want despite doing a fraction of the work I do. But then there you are, being nice and trying to make me like you, and helping me even when I throw your kindness back in your face." Roxis shook his head. "You're just too..."

"Oh for Alectoria's sake!" The Mana of Light appeared behind Roxis and pushed him up against Vayne. "Just kiss him already, would you?"

And Roxis did. Angrily and rough, not at all what a first kiss should be like, but fitting for them. He fisted his hands in Vayne's uniform jacket, not giving the other boy a chance to pull away as he attacked his mouth. Their teeth clacked together as Roxis kept pushing and biting at Vayne's lips.

It was all Vayne could do to stay on his feet. He reflexively draped his arms around Roxis' waist, curling his fingers into the other boy's belt. Roxis skated his hands around to Vayne's back, pressing their hips together and sliding his thigh between Vayne's legs, moaning as they rocked against one another.

Just as Vayne was starting to adjust to the pace Roxis was setting, the older boy jerked away. He stooped to pick up his bag, then groped inside his shirt for his Wings of Icarus. "This doesn't make us friends," he snapped as he disappeared, teleporting back to campus. Vayne was left with only the faint sounds of the Mana of Light chuckling as he followed his pact-mate back to the school grounds.

"You should go back too," Sulpher informed him. "It's dangerous out here by yourself."

Vayne shook his head. "I think it might be even more dangerous back there. Am I ever gonna understand him?"

Sulpher ducked his head, amused. "Are you sure you want to?"

"After that," Vayne said, brushing his fingers against his lips, "I almost think I might..."


End file.
